Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Stones & Sand

Nancy and I were returning home by plane a few weeks ago. We were in the last row, behind a family of four, a three year old boy, and an infant baby girl. On the way to our seats, the little boy pushed against his mothers bottom to hurry her along, then as I learned later, did it to Nancy too.
As we were waiting in the aisle to get off the plane, the little boy came across the aisle and stepped on Nancy's shoes. She touched his head to restrain him. The father exploded at Nancy. A verbal altercation ensued. "No one lays a hand on my kid", followed by "No one steps on my wifes shoes". There was no attempt to restrain the little guy, nor was there any apology. As a friend of mine said this week in a different setting, the father "took argumentation to a new level". I noted out loud to the father what a terrible message was being transmitted to the little one, namely that the lad can do whatever he wants without consequence. He countered with the fact that we are probably terrible grandparents. In other words, no discipline was being administered. Nancy and I walked down the concourse with a heavy heart for that beautiful family, knowing it was a ticking time bomb. Either the kid will be in jail in 15 years, or that father and 10 more like him could wreak havoc on an entire school system, or Little League, or city. It was a classic display of zeal without wisdom and common sense. It's being displayed on a global scale these days. What do you think?

"A stone is heavy and the sand weighty, but the provocation of a fool is heavier than both of them". Prov 27:3

2 comments:

Lynne said...

Dad, this scene makes me sad. The farther I get in parenting, the more wisdom I realize I lack... hopefully this most basic wisdom is not being completely lost in our culture.

Sarah Jane said...

I'm ill.